The present invention generally relates to an automatic cell sample classifying apparatus and more particularly to the automatic cell sample classifying apparatus including an automatic stain discriminating apparatus for discriminating a staining method which has been adopted in staining a given one of plural cell samples stained by respective predetermined different staining methods.
In order to automatically examine and classify a number of cell samples stained by respective different staining methods by means of an automatic cell sample classifying apparatus, it is necessary to discriminate or determine in precedence which of the different staining methods has been employed in staining a given one of the plural cell samples. However, there has heretofore been known no apparatus capable of discriminating the staining methods. Consequently, in the automatic cell sample classifying apparatus such as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,972 issued on Dec. 3, 1974 to Smith et al, entitled "Automatic Method and System for Analysis and Review of A Plurality of Stored Slides", and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 938,964 entitled "Cellular Analysis System", a large number of cell samples are preceedingly classified through manual procedure for each of the staining methods, wherein the samples stained by the same method are processed by preparing an examination/classification program appropriate to that staining method. When the cell samples stained by another method are to be processed, the examination and classification program must be correspondingly changed. Alternatively, the cell samples stained by the same method may be accommodated in a same cassette, wherein examination/classification programs are prepared for the cassettes in correspondence to the staining methods applied to the sample slides accommodated in the cassettes, respectively.
In the case of the system disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Patent Application, each cassette is attached with a mark indicating the staining method by which the cell sample slides contained in the cassette have been stained, and the mark is read by an automatic classification apparatus to thereby set automatically the examination/classification program pertinent to the staining method indicated by the mark. As an alternative, each cell sample may be affixed with a mark indicating the staining method applied to that cell sample, which mark is then read by the automatic classification apparatus. In any case, however, accommodation of the cell samples stained by the same method in each cassette as well as checking for assuring correct indication of staining methods by the marks must be performed through manual procedure.